What a "sparky" experience! ⚡ I feel with you, how exciting it was turning your system on for the first time. Well done! 👍 But also no episode without some lessons learned: 1) always turn your inverter off before "skrewing" with him 2) avoid touching conductive parts while under current 3) wear some protective gloves. I know, easy for me to say while siting in my cool basement and not at 35grdC And finally, for what it's worth, use insulated tools. If you don't have, no problem, use some electrical tape to insulate the shaft of your screwdriver or whatever you use... just to keep "Sparky the frog" happy!
Started watching, after you dropped the box again at the table my phone said restarting... thought it was part of the video and stared at a blank screen for a while waiting for the video to start again lol
Love this episode. You were so excited to see the inverter come to life. I learned the resistor trick pretty quickly when hooking my 48V 3kW victron inverter to my test battery bank (4 x AGM 210Ah). Tip: build a delay box for the inverter that puts the resistor inline for a few seconds once your build is nearing completion. This will prevent that spark from ever forming inside your master battery switch or any breakers. You can have the same circui also power on a contactor for the inverter mains output, so that a big load accidentally left connected to the inverter and turned on wont burn out the resistor :)
Hi. Can the resistor be permanently installed as a bypass for a kill-switch connecting everything to the battery. And in that way avoid sparking when turning the switch?
Honesty overcomes embarrassment! GJ! Not only did you understand what happened but you didntcedit out there whole thing. The will be very useful for people. From what I have seen, with my 1500 watt inverter I shouldn't have to purchase it. There was no spark when i connected my 1100 watt.
Hahaha you really made me laugh with your intro to this video. I really enjoyed how you stopped the music with each drop of the box. I don't know if you realize this, but inverters are very close to an audio amplifier for a car, since audio amplifiers take DC voltage and transform it into Alternating current at the output section to send to a speaker. Its just that the audio amplifier sends out the AC current in pulses that make the music you hear, and the inverter sends out the AC current in the form of a 50hz or 60hz constant sine wave. Amplifiers also need to charge the capacitors on first connection the same way as the inverter did. The electronics inside both the inverters and amplifiers are Very similar, especially the DC power supply sections. The DC current gets sent through 2 sets of mosfets, one positive rail and one negative rail, to create the voltage differential that makes the classic sine wave you see in alternating current.
I'm now spending more time chasing frogs than cabling my garage. The channel is heading is slowly becoming a documentary channel for Australian fauna, right?! 🐸
You could rival David attenborough with off grid garden or the green solar planet lol Love what your doing and it's been so helpful with my trucks solar, controller, battery and inverter install. Thought I'd found you on another channel, alloffroad 4x4 Adventures. Stefan Fischer looks so much like you with the same accent. Love your channel and watch one of Australia's best exports while the wife watches one of Australia's worst; married at first sight Australia ! There are many instructional video's available but yours provide both real world practical information with some humour and a bonus are your frogs. Thankyou, Chris in the UK
Great progress and I enjoy watching your setup. I also ordered some 280AH batteries for a 48v setup. One thing I would recommend is to replace that ANL fuse with a class T fuse. From everything I have read those ANL will open due to short circuit circuit, but because of the high current output of the LiFePo batteries it is possible a plasma arc could continue to complete the now open circuit between the metal parts of the fuse, causing a fire and a meltdown of that enclosure. A class T fuse has high current rejection or AIC and usually have ratings in the 50-100KA DC range. They are usually filled with a sand like material that when heated due to a fault turn into a glass like substance squelching any arc and becoming an insulator. You can find 150A class T with lug holders online for around $45 US. Cost a little more than the ANL fuse and holder setup, but a much much safer current interrupter. Please keep the videos coming, they are a great resource of learning.
Thanks Jimmy. Well, we all heard about that possible plasma thingy, right? I really doubt it will happen as I explained in one of my other videos. The 48V will not be enough to maintain that. And the ANL is a Li-approved fuse. The only reason to replace it with a Class T is the heat the fuse creates....
Fun episode, enjoy seeing your enthusiasm. Had lots of green tree frogs appear on the outside of my shed. Found out there is a brown snake that's moved into the shed that hunts them. Never a dull moment! I've often seen pythons basking on my solar inverter in winter. Maybe put some fine mesh over any vents on battery boxes, mainly to stop gekos seeking out warmth.
Always a great pleasure to watch your progress. I would suggest to remove that big sticker from the inverter. It significantly reduces the cooling effect of the case. According to the data on Amazon the inverter has an operating temperature range of -10°C...+50°C. If the temperature in your garage is 35°C there may be a difference of just 15°C between the environment and the inside of your cabinet to operate the inverter within it's valid range. In my experience the temperature of such systems need ~3 hours until the temperatures have stabilized themselves in operation. So I would suggest to put a temperature sensor into the cabinet and run the inverter for three hours under your designated load condition and watch the temperature while the cabinet's door is CLOSED ALL THE TIME and the cable entries are closed as well. Sparks and overtemperature are reliable ways to quickly kill electronic components. It could become necessary to add frog-protected ventilation openings to the cabinet after the test 😉
I had the inverter running on 3kW for one hour last night and the case outside stayed at 29°C for that time. We had 25° outside. So far, it does not get hot at all.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia I don't see a problem while the inverter is running in an open, ventilated environment. But there could be a problem while your components are all mounted and running in the closed cabinet where all power losses are resulting in a heat concentration. The temperature in the cabinet must stay below 15°C above your 35°C in the garage or the inverter is operating out of the specs. There is a huge difference if a component is running in an almoust airtight cabinet or in an open environment.
Have you thought about fitting a pre-charge system inside your battery box? You could have a momentary push button which you hold down for a few seconds before engaging the main contactor.
That style of inverter is often internally fused. I've seen them with several of those spade style fuses, soldered in place, to get the current handling capacity. Pop the lid off and take a look (on camera?) :)
Andy, would you mind to share what is "no load idle current" of your inverter? I see that many can waste quite a bit of energy when idle. Inverter efficiency under the load is also quite interesting to see. Thank you.
I appreciate your personality. Everyone makes comments, you take them into consideration but you follow your idea and opinion and above all you don't mind experimenting and you don't take the facts for granted just because others "say". I like it. I would like to see more data regarding the loading of your car. Can you show the load configuration of the car as well as the data of your BMS, shunt and inverter? Thanks !!
Thank you for your feedback. I will show heaps more of charging the vehicle in the next few videos. There is a problem I didn't think about it before... so... lots more to consider.
Really fun and informative video. Could you let us know what the idle power usage of this inverter is? It varies greatly between these types of inverters and of course has a big effect on overall efficiency.
when I was at school, it was sin pronounced sign. I took my inverter out of its box today. Put it on a piece of plywood along with the DC2DC. The latter came with some cables, I need 2/0 AWG for the inverter. Looks like I need a licenced sparky, I have not had a look inside yet, but I think I have to put cables into terminal blocks. I did it for work in the 60s, wasn't licenced then either. I have an American manual. Talks about 120V. The box says 240V. Has me wondering whether it is an important error in the manual. I have ordered a crimper similar to yours, got a nice email from the seller.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia And some of my ancestors would understand you. I might once have known a few colours, to count to ten. I'm pedantic, maybe an aspie. Bad spelling and grammar seriously bug me. Mispronunciation by people who came to English later usually doesn't bother me, but it can matter. Saying seen meaning sin confused me for a moment.
Glad you were ok and that you were not injured from the spark. Must have been a shock cos it went dead silent after. In that instant I though oh shit you got zapped badly.
baahaha that beginning !!! instant like . i have the Elinz 12v 2500w and Elinz 12v 600w inverters both pure sine wave , they are from Australia and are both awesome .
always mount with the fans facing up the thing will be more efficiently cooled this way because you use the chimney effect heat rises drawing cool air into the inverter.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia it is possible at 48v the power loss on the power cable is minimal and with size wire your going to be using there will literally be 0 power loss. The additional 3 foot of wire is not going to cause a issue better to do that than have the fan fail later on and without warning you got the good old magic smoke coming out of the cabinet.They orient the fans and electronics so the heat isn't dumped towards the front of the power inverter for a reason those components in the front are the ones you dont want warm / hot or well things go bad fast fire / smoke and alot of cuss words will occur and likely a fire extinguisher will have to be involved.
I have to do a video on my 24v / 110AC inverter. I ran a test and looks like a good inverter. I only ran at 700watts and my oscilloscope showed a good waveform. I have some breakers coming in and have to mount the remaining 4 x 250w panels.
Exciting stuff here! I've been going back and forth for 3 months on what inverter too 😉 finally pulled the trigger on a 2200w -4400w pure sine wave Giandel 12v on Saturday and it showed up Monday in a crazy snow storm. Though now am wishing I'd have seen this before may have went this way. Can't wait to see it with the heavy load equipment and all installed. With the Giandel I'm going to wire in a 20 amp gfci circuit to get all wattage. It will power my shed/pond for summer time. Cheers and sunny day to you my friend 😎
Thanks David. Has the Giandel inverter internal bonding between N and PE? Otherwise your GFCI will not work. I just have the same problem with this inverter.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia Good looking. After bringing up that point I started researching and found out that their lower wattage model 2200w i purchased has no connection ac block feature that's only available on the 4000w model. Oh well not a deal breaker I figure. I can use both plugs as well. (Afterthought maybe I'll trade up for the big one is pricey though hummm)
"Why do you put 10 fuses in your inverter box?" Because they expect you to go through them. I've had so many bad experiences with these Chinese inverters. :D They often go through a lot of fuses. I don't understand why 10 amps though. With 6,000 watt peak that would be around 26 amps? Do they put 3 fuses in parallel? (I've seen that before too) I only use Victron Inverters now for that reason. Plus Victron lets you program everything. On the fans: Are you sure they blow outward? They sometimes do blow inwards. And if not you might be able to reverse their direction easily enough if you want to make them blow upwards instead. Instead of using a pre-charge resistor, I just keep the main disconnect turned off while connecting the inverter, then turn on the main disconnect after it's all connected. I've never had a need to pre-charge before connecting an inverter before. I often turn the inverters off and on using the main disconnect and it's never been an issue for me.
For the low voltage disconnect you can also use a battery protect. A 100A -48V piece should be fine and you can disconnect on your own settings ... I use one in line to the 12V appliances and one in front of my MPPT. Since I’m living in Germany I need also a temperature sensor but that’s another topic ...
Well done! Why did you prefer to build separate charger and inverter vs buy an integrated model? Also if the inverter is mounted "upside down" , is it an option to reverse the fans so that cool air is blown in the bottom and hot air exhausted out of the top rather than sucking hot air down through the unit ? Thanks for a good series. 👍
Thanks Mike. I prefer to be more flexible. I'm almost certain I will constantly upgrade/change this system all the time and this won't be possible with an all-in-one unit. But if you just build your system and not planning to experiment as I do, these units are brilliant.
Victron have a free download program that will run on a raspberry pi that will talk to your shunt and solar controller. Then you can connect to it from your house using ethernet and see what is going on. It also allows you to send alarms and connect using the internet. I have been using it for over a year now and I love it. Good luck.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia My battery box is not completed yet and the Cerbu Gx is not integrated in the system, I'll let you know down the road when is done (approx 2 weeks) if you are interested
"No smoke, no spark, .... no frog gets dark" ;o) The final load is waiting in the next door. starting with a T........ Did you still painting the sign "Sun takes me in front of you!" ? :D hand walter
Great look see on Xijia - my biggest issue is fitting remote switch in my RV - that cable connects to side not the back and will only mount on a metal panel not a 15mm laminated fascia or would it be better to fit a powered 12v auto rocker switch? Not hard to deduce cable wire values?
@@OffGridGarageAustralia Thanks thought so - i was keen on the Renostar remote panel that showed Outputs etc but although they are compact they only have one fan which would be useless plus they don't weigh much either.
ITS " SHE ,JEE , AH " IN ZHUNGWEN = CHINESE MEANS - " LIKE HOME " OR SOMETHING . I THINK THATS WHAT IT MEANS . GREAT LOAD RUN VIDEO . MAY THE SOLAR BE WITH YOU .
Nice video. I just received a 3000W 24V inverter. Question - did you ever figure out what all those fuses are for? Should I have an inline fuse between the battery and the inverter, or can I assume it has internal fuses protecting it?
They told me that these are spare fuses to replace the internal fuses if needed. You always want an external fuse or breaker between battery and inverter. 100%! Don't rely on these internal ones. It's also handy to just disconnect the inverter with a 2-pole breaker from the outside when needed.
Thank you Andy, i listen every Video. I am very interested to load a Electric Car with a solar iland. I think you have a Tesla .... Greats from Bavaria, Harald
Hi, is it still working okay, I am thinking about getting one for my garage? Did you care that you will not be able to view the screens on the inverter?
IMHO don't make a hole in your cabinet front door for the inverter remote control. I'm pretty sure that you will be replacing the inverter in six-months with something else and then you're stuck with a non-standard hole.
Go ahead and boil your charge controller and inverter in that closed enclosure. Fix ventilation and reinstall new components. We expect new series on schedule 😜
You divide the wattage of your inverter by the voltage of you battery to get the current. Then go up to the next size of fuse. Example: 2000W / 12V = 166A, select a 200A fuse
Hi Jorge. I know its been 4 months since you posted this, but I own two of these inverters on two separate off grid projects. One is 24v, the other is 12v. BOTH have been bulletproof brilliant for me! I love their inverters! The 24v one is 5000W and often pushed it to 5400W for a few minutes at a time, without a drama. The 12v is a 3000W and is equally tough! Both inverters were full time off grid for just over two years before the lead acid batteries in both projects died. In a few weeks, I should have some LifePo4 replacements, so Ill be off grid again.
@@itsmeasis Thanks. I ended up getting the 24v 3000w model. I have been really busy but wanted to do a video on it as well. I was thinking on getting some lithium batteries but other things came up. The biggest load I tested was around 800 watts.
Hey 😀 i just recieved my batteries from Basin and the cells are 280ah Lishen .im confused thoe. The voltage is perfect 3.27 each cell i dont know why they not fully charged at 3.65 please explain. Im new to lithium
You should not fully charge batteries and keep them on this high state of charge for long. Best is to keep them 3.25 during transport. 3.65V does not mean they are fully charged, it's just the highest possible voltage they can have before they take damage. Charge them 3.4V or 3.5V. If you leave them sitting for a while like this, you will noticed the voltage goes down to 3.3V anyway. So in my opinion it's not worth charging them higher than 3.4V. The capacity between 3.4V and 3.65V charge is almost nothing, less than 0.1%...
I'm Happy for you. I also have a 3000 Watt Pure Sine inverter. Been using it for 5 years now, looks just like yours except Blue and a different name brand. It has been working Flawlessly for me in Phoenix, AZ. in the summer with temps of 115 degrees when I'm Boon-Docking. I keep my front battery compartment hatch open on my 5th wheel to help keep it cool. And I use two old computer case fans arrange to suck air out of my battery case.
Hi - i purchased this 2kw also - does yours run quiet? Mine starts up like a dvd unit sound when its sensing a disc like a tic tic sound and when i put under load i get like an air leak noise similar to letting air out of a tyre valve - not very loud but noticeable - TIA
That's the fans inside the unit. If you care enough to lower the noise level you can buy upgraded fans from companies like "noctua" they have very quiet fans and they put out alot of air! I think these are 80mm fans inside these inverters.
@@randybobandy9828 Hi- this noise is on startup and more as i connected a load to it - im watching the fans and they arnt running at all yet as not hot enough - i did run a 0.7amp 175watt fridge for 12 hrs in a closed space under bed so inverter fan must have run - inverter noise wasnt heard under the mattress and it didn't shut down due to overheating etc - fridge thermostat was down at 2 when i have at 4 running on lpg
I got the Xijia 2kw unit and wondered what size breaker on positive input lead? Was considering an 80a thermal resettable marine type or a single pole dual action CB? - would 80a be ok or higher? TIA ps - won't be easy to move remote cable position plus cable falls out too easily 😢
@@melbournesubtropicfruits9474 180-200amp should work. If you run those 2 batteries in series that will make it a 24v battery and will not work with your 12v inverter. Do you mean running them in parallel to increase your capacity?
I had a far worse spark at some stage with that setup but didn't have the camera on. I was expecting that was it! Everything fried and melted together. But no, the BMS stayed on all the time. Maybe it's not working? I should do more spark-testing and see if it turns off eventually.
I think running the 3000w would be ideal as many people can use your battery setup in their buses and rv but if I was setting up a house setup I would run two battery box's and run min 4000w invertor
Good idea with two invertors should run everything only thing is you will need two or three battery box's at least(never can have too much power(plus storing power makes more sense or its wasted) are you also setting up your hot water any power that produced after the battery charged can heat up your water (mayby two water heaters plumb the other as storage(mayby a electronic switch that turns on to a third invertor for this) or a heated pool for winter
How Andy, great work and very excited to it running, I was literally crossing my fingers! Amazing, amazing work on teach us to help the planet while saving money. My full respect to you and the good energy you put into our will to do something like that. Cheers and waiting on new videos with excitement.
Would never touch an inverter with a transformer. Everyone I owned melted. Always buy the transformerless ones. 24/48v inverters are so cheap now. 3 running for 5 years no worries. Just bought 24v all in one. $500 for 2400watts. Will probably out live me. Everyone has to learn. I wouldn't trust these anywhere never my home.
